By DPA
Islamabad : The Pakistani military claimed Wednesday it killed at least 16 militants as armed supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric gained control over a third town in the northwestern valley of Swat.
“We apprehended four militants near the valley’s Saido Sharif airport when their armed supporters came for their help but our forces repelled the attack, killing six of them,” army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told the Dawn news channel.
Ten more rebels were killed as helicopter gunships pounded militants’ positions in the Matta and Shangla areas of the valley, he added.
The military strikes came a day after heavily armed Islamic militants gained control of another town in the Swat valley.
About 400 militants travelling in 16 trucks entered Alpuri, the main town in the Shangla district, Tuesday night and seized its government buildings and police headquarters, the daily News reported.
Arshad confirmed the advance but refused to give details of the fighting.
Alpuri was the third major town in the Swat Valley that has fallen to the Islamic militia organized by the firebrand cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
Scores of people, including several security personnel, have died in two weeks of heavy fighting in the valley.
Meanwhile, at least two soldiers were killed an attack in the neighbouring Malakand agency, apparently by supporters of Fazlullah.
The militants targeted an army convoy with an explosive device and there were reports of the deaths of two soldiers, reported the Dawn news channel. The army spokesman denied the report.